Today is Maya Angelou's birthday and the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leaving the world.
A few months ago I finished reading both Maya's first and final memoirs, as I'd already read all of the ones in between. Her ultimate memoir related the stories of learning of the deaths of her friends Malcolm X and Dr. King. The latter died on her birthday. He'd asked her to travel the country with him, and she'd told him she had to wait until after her 40th birthday.
She didn't celebrate for years after that, and instead would send flowers to King's widow.
50 years have passed, so I think it's time to celebrate her life again. We all owe a debt to the inspiration and leadership of Dr. King, who still teaches us to look past the veneer and that if we must judge one another, to do so based on the content of one's character and not the color of our skin, to be brave, that words are powerful and beautiful and inspiring, and that the power of love is more effective than violence. Of course, he had some inspiration from Gandhi, who'd had some inspiration from the written works of Henry David Thoreau, who I'm sure didn't come up with all that civil disobedience stuff completely on his own.
All of that said, while Dr. King was the monumental figure of my youth, Ms. Angelou has been a much larger inspiration to me personally, at least in recent years. Her travels, storytelling, poetry, versatility, teaching, activism, courage and wisdom remind me what makes a life truly well lived.
Neither she nor King were perfect human beings, and that's near the top of the list for what I love most about them. If you think we can only be led and inspired by perfection, by people who are morally, sexually, financially pure, or whatever other litmus tests the spectators can devise to thin out the ranks of those who should/can offer us guidance and inspiration, then we're going to miss out on a lot of creativity and quality, and we'll be led by very boring people with limited experience of what the world really is.
Thank you, Dr. King, and thank you Maya. The world, my world, is far better because you lived your lives the ways you did, and I can't imagine how you dealt with all the adversity that was thrown your way. You inspire me every day
A few months ago I finished reading both Maya's first and final memoirs, as I'd already read all of the ones in between. Her ultimate memoir related the stories of learning of the deaths of her friends Malcolm X and Dr. King. The latter died on her birthday. He'd asked her to travel the country with him, and she'd told him she had to wait until after her 40th birthday.
She didn't celebrate for years after that, and instead would send flowers to King's widow.
50 years have passed, so I think it's time to celebrate her life again. We all owe a debt to the inspiration and leadership of Dr. King, who still teaches us to look past the veneer and that if we must judge one another, to do so based on the content of one's character and not the color of our skin, to be brave, that words are powerful and beautiful and inspiring, and that the power of love is more effective than violence. Of course, he had some inspiration from Gandhi, who'd had some inspiration from the written works of Henry David Thoreau, who I'm sure didn't come up with all that civil disobedience stuff completely on his own.
All of that said, while Dr. King was the monumental figure of my youth, Ms. Angelou has been a much larger inspiration to me personally, at least in recent years. Her travels, storytelling, poetry, versatility, teaching, activism, courage and wisdom remind me what makes a life truly well lived.
Neither she nor King were perfect human beings, and that's near the top of the list for what I love most about them. If you think we can only be led and inspired by perfection, by people who are morally, sexually, financially pure, or whatever other litmus tests the spectators can devise to thin out the ranks of those who should/can offer us guidance and inspiration, then we're going to miss out on a lot of creativity and quality, and we'll be led by very boring people with limited experience of what the world really is.
Thank you, Dr. King, and thank you Maya. The world, my world, is far better because you lived your lives the ways you did, and I can't imagine how you dealt with all the adversity that was thrown your way. You inspire me every day
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